What’s Your best Christmas memory? I remember going sledding with my whole family on the hill by the old cemetery. We would build a small fire, make hot chocolate, and try to warm our hands. I also remember going caroling with my youth group, singing through the windows of homes of “shut-ins.” At church, we would always do some kind of Christmas program. Sometimes, we would have a “Christmas piece” to read. They would print them out on tiny strips of paper. If we forgot our part, we could read the words off those tiny strips. Our church always fixed up a “Christmas Treat” for each of us, complete with an apple, an orange, some peanuts in the shell and (the best part) a candy bar. My family would pick a night to sing Christmas carols around the piano. I always felt a bit of pressure because I was the one playing the piano. (Decades later, I still feel a bit of pressure whenever I’m playing the piano in a worship service.) We would always record them (on an old reel-to-reel recorder). It was a pretty big deal to us. : ) Dad always read “the Christmas story” from the Bible before we started opening gifts. I guess he wanted to make sure we understood why we were doing what we were doing. That’s still crucial today — that we re-center our lives, reaffirm our purpose, and look out toward a world full of people, many of whom still haven’t heard for the first time of the real reason behind Christmas.

So what’s YOUR best Christmas memory? Please take just a moment and click comment to share. And thanks for being part of the Brigada family!!!